Kenan Taylor Battles Way to Top of Counts After Day 3 in EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event
The third day of the EPT Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event as part of 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) presented by Monte-Carlo Casino? wrapped up after five 90-minute levels of play and saw the field of 126 that started the day dwindle down to 38 hopefuls. Leading the way by a significant margin is the United Kingdom's Kenan Taylor with a stack of 3,650,000, followed not too closely by Arunas Sapitavicius of Lithuania (2,220,000) and Russia's Artur Martirosian (1,445,000).
Not only is Taylor after his first major live title, he's after his first live cash period. The 21-year-old told PokerNews he is primarily a $10/$20 online player and is mainly looking for a big live score to add to his online bankroll.
Despite his lack of live experience, the young Brit had no trouble going to bat against seasoned veterans like Mike Watson, who tangled with Taylor in more than a few big pots as they were seated together throughout the day. Watson managed to bag a stack of 1,280,000, while others who made it to Day 4 include Leonard Maue (1,085,000), Ori Hasson (1,065,000), Jason Wheeler (1,000,000), Arnaud Enselme (810,000) and PSPC champions Ramon Colillas (810,000) and Aliaksandr Shylko (500,000).
End of Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT | BIG BLINDS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenan Taylor | United Kingdom | 3,650,000 | 243 | |
| 2 | Arunas Sapitavicius | Lithuania | 2,220,000 | 148 | |
| 3 | Artur Martirosian | Russia | 1,445,000 | 96 | |
| 4 | Milos Petakovic | Serbia | 1,385,000 | 92 | |
| 5 | Maduka Meragal | Canada | 1,345,000 | 90 | |
| 6 | Mike Watson | Canada | 1,280,000 | 85 | |
| 7 | Pieter Aerts | Belgium | 1,215,000 | 81 | |
| 8 | Samy Boujmala | France | 1,120,000 | 75 | |
| 9 | Apoorva Goel | India | 1,090,000 | 73 | |
| 10 | Leonard Maue | Germany | 1,085,000 | 72 |
Day 3 Action
There was no shortage of big names and notable players to start the day, and chief among them was five-time World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen. Carlsen, who spoke with PokerNews in an interview during a break on Day 2, entered the day with 127,000 chips and managed to run up a stack from there.
The Norwegian chess prodigy's deep run came to an end when he check-jammed with pocket fours and was called by the pocket tens of Mark Teltscher, who shook Carlsen's hand and gracefully thanked him for "growing the game." The 63rd-place finish earned Carlsen €15,000 as he adapts to life as a former chess champion.
Another big name to fall was Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, who managed to grow his stack throughout the day before falling in 49th place for €17,250, shortly after the elimination of EPT London final tablist Harry Lodge (50th - €17,250).
Others to fall late in the day included PokerStars Team Pro Parker Talbot (42nd - €17,250), bracelet winner Orpen Kisacikoglu (40th - €17,250) and 2021 PokerStars Sunday Millions champion Vanessa Kade, who ran ace-queen into Big Slick after a "sneaky" early-position limp from Martin Guerrero.
Action will pick back up on May 4 with Level 21 and blinds of 10,000/15,000/15,000. There will still be two days left in the tournament on the quest to name the next EPT champion.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow as the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event draws closer to an end.